Bricks

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Mate is having some garden walls built after the storms blew some fences down.

Single brick about a meter high with 9" pillars with wood panels between. Doing the entire garden - so must look good to neighbours too, as obviously one of the walls is 'theirs'.

He wanted bricks to match the sort of red ribbed ones used on his 80s house. But the ones the contractor has brought are only a match on one face. The backs are a sort of sandy colour. The contractor says the only option is to go for 9" walls all round - an extra 1000 quid.

Any comments? I know absolutely nothing about bricks. ;-)

[Tricky Dicky]

Most facing bricks only have one face a one end, sometimes two ends, finished as the facing side. If I was your mate I would also beef up the pillars if he intends to span the gaps with panels.

Richard

[Roger Mills]

Well yes, they're facing bricks - which have fancy surfaces on one front face and two ends. You don't normally see the other side when it is built, for example, into a cavity wall.

You can get decorative bricks which are faced all round and designed for single thickness garden walls etc. - but they are a lot more expensive, and won't match the house!

You pays your money . . .

[Capitol]

Sounds to me like faced commons, which are often used to reduce costs on houses. Garden walls are wet for ages and easy to frost damage. I'd look for some stock bricks of a suitable colour which will outlast commons by a millenia! The worse the shape on stocks and the nearer to blue, the longer they last. London yellow stocks are a bit soft, I think that's because they are fired at lower temperatures to reduce costs, but they will still outlast commons.

[Andrew Gabriel]

+1.

You want bricks rated for frost resistance for a garden wall, which is wetted on all sides and has no heat leaking through it to dry it (unlike a house). Faced bricks are often not good for frost resistance, the faces tend to fall off after a few years of continuous water and frost exposure.

A single brick pillar (9") won't support wooden panels, although I'm struggling to visualise what you are describing. With suitable bricks, you can strengthen a pillar by running rebar set into the foundations up through holes in the bricks and mortared in.

[Brian Gaff]

All I know is that there were over 100 different types with varying colours and hardness etc. I suspect the contractor has tried to find the cheapest in stock that sort of match. I guess the other thought is paint of some kind, but really, would anyone notice after they are weathered? Brian

[Nightjar]

As others have said, those are single face commons. They may be the only ones that the contractor can get to match the house, but they are not the right brick for the job.

The guru:

Note the bit about single skin (rather than single brick which, technically is 9" thick - 4" walls being half brick) walls only being suitable up to about 450mm. I would also be rather dubious about 9" piers being suitable for holding fencing panels of any size.

Personally, I would build the wall single skin, no more than 450mm high, and make up the height difference with the fencing panels. For that, I think the piers should be 13" square, which will leave a 4" square cavity up the middle, which should have four spaced pieces of rebar in it and be filled with concrete. Alternatively, use concrete fencing posts instead of piers and view the wall as simply a long lasting infill for the base.

I would also go for grade B engineering brick, which will be cheaper than facing bricks as well as being more suitable for garden walls, and ignore trying to match the house.

Colin Bignell

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Right.

I'll study that later.

That was a mistake on my part - they'll be 13". Interesting about the maximum height for a 4" wall, though.

I've a feeling the match to the house will win in the end. Style over function. I'd guess if the colour looked ok from a distance (after weathering) that would be fine. But not what looks more like a yellow than red brick.

[Nightjar]

You can get red engineering bricks, but they won't have the same texture as the house bricks.

Colin Bignell